Getting Marketing and Sales on the Same Team
The Power of Intertwinement
Marketing and Sales need to work together to ensure maximum ROI. One possible strategy to achieve this goal is adopting the inbound methodology you’ve become familiar with.
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The inbound strategy drives Marketing to create content that generates leads interested enough in your products or services to be passed to Sales, which then works to convert them into customers. The earlier stages of inbound marketing should make things easier for Sales.
Marketing's Role in the Inbound Methodology
Even before Sales enters the picture, Marketing must attract, qualify, and convert leads to sales qualified leads. Strong marketing drives more sales qualified leads, resulting in more predictable and sustainable revenue streams for the organization. A good marketing strategy will provide valuable content, targeted messaging, and a seamless user experience.
Sales’ Role in the Inbound Methodology
Sales focuses on working individually with prospects to attempt to guide them to purchase by demonstrating how your products or services can fulfill their needs. They use their expertise and product knowledge to build relationships with potential customers and close deals. Sales’ ultimate goal is to drive revenue for the business.
Bringing Marketing and Sales Together
Intertwinement involves fostering collaboration between Marketing and Sales to establish a unified team — after all, both are part of converting strangers to prospects to customers! This collaboration will likely take time to develop (so expect some bumps along the way). Still, open communication and a shared understanding of each other's needs can help make the effort easier. Here are some tips to get you started.
Develop A Lead History
As potential customers interact with your content, your business should track each interaction to form a lead history — with touchpoints, for how long they spend in each stage, etc. The history contextualizes where marketing leaves off so the sales team can seamlessly pick up. The best salespeople will personalize their approach based on what has or hasn’t been discussed by Marketing.
Analyze Closed-Won Customers
Lead history is crucial even after a sale has closed. Sales and marketing teams should collaborate to analyze the prospects who have become customers, also called “closed-won.” These are the success stories you want to repeat. Your teams should examine lead history to learn who is buying from you and what marketing and sales activities led to the sale, also called a closed-won analysis. This retrospective will assist in more effective marketing and sales strategies.
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Ready to start integrating Marketing and Sales, but need a short and snappy way to remember how? Our infographics have the benefits and best practices for integrating your marketing and sales teams. Don't miss out on these valuable resources — download them both now!
